January, 1919 
FOREST AND STREAM 
31 
per. Keen disappointment, but renewed 
determination. More practice and then 
after several failures down comes a 
sparrow. We get closer to our game 
and shoot a “chipmunk.” Then a “red- 
der,” and an appetite which thirty-five 
years has failed to appease was created. 
I had a good time with that old gun, 
more than I’ve ever had with my good 
old Parker and that is saying something. 
All that fall I carried it when hunting 
up the cows, until my father discovered 
my cache in a dry place under a ledge 
beyond the lane where I could conveni- 
ently get or leave it together with my 
munitions and not expose it by carrying 
it through the lane. 
Dad was a true philosopher. “Guess 
the boy is bound to have a gun anyway 
and I might as well let him use my 
light one,” he decided. 
So he gave me his light muzzle loader 
and instructed me in its care and use, 
and from that day he had only to look 
in the corner to know whether I was 
“hunting” or not. Thus with reluctant 
paternal consent and with remonstrat- 
ing maternal protests I became a de- 
voted follower of Nimrod of old. 
Your health. Forest and Stream. 
This should compensate for thirty-five 
years’ of silence and merit thirty-five 
more. 
Yours sincerely, 
F. T. W., Wakefield, Mass. 
Such an interesting letter ought to be 
our lot more often than once in thirty- 
five years. Your early experiences with 
fire arms recall vividly some of our own. 
It is a wonderful thing for a boy to have 
a “Dad’' who is a “true philosopher.” 
The danger a boy runs from a real gun 
properly cared for is mostly nil, but 
there must be a special Providence who 
protects youngsters from the dangers of 
makeshift weapons. Glad to hear from 
you again. — [Editors.] 
THE WOODCOCK’S WHISTLE 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
I N your October number, Mr. Wilber, 
in his article on woodcock, brings up 
the much-disputed question as to how 
the woodcock makes the whistling sound 
often heard, as they take to wing. 
Many articles have been written in the 
last twenty-five years and still as far 
away as ever from any positive proof. 
More than twenty years ago I had 
demonstrated to me how at least one 
woodcock made the noise. The bird in 
question had been hurt in some way and 
picked up before it had revived enough 
to fly away. It was placed in a store 
show window as a curiosity, as few peo- 
ple outside of sportsmen have any knowl- 
edge whatever of the woodco'ck. 
I secured this bird that I might lib- 
erate it on his native heath — that could 
be found a short distance away — and 
carried him along the street, having both 
wings closely pinned to the body with 
my right hand and left hand underneath, 
giving him no chance for wing action or 
body motion. Without a struggle or 
quiver of the body, it gave out the whistle 
through the mouth or throat. 
I have often thought of giving this 
experience, knowing it would only likely 
happen once in a life time and then only 
to a very few. To me it was positive 
proof of how the whistle was made and 
so long as this one showed the way, it 
would be fair to assume the others do the 
same. 
J. M. Dinsmore, 
2804 Woodland Avenue, 
Kansas City, Mo. 
The question of the tvoodcock’s whistle 
is almost as much and widely discussed 
as that of the grouse's druyn. Glad to 
hear your opinion and experience in the 
matter.— [E ditors.] 
ALABAMA ANGLERS 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
I HAVE long been a reader of your 
journal and have at times noted men- 
tion of catches of channel bass, which is 
commonly called here in southern water 
red fish, larger ones are called bull reds. 
I have just returned from a trip on 
Mobile Bay at Coden, Ala., and am en- 
closing you kodak pictures of catch made 
Saturday, October 19th, 1918 — 37 Bull 
Reds weighing from 20 to 35 lbs. each. 
Party reading from left to right: Jack 
R. Connor, Birmingham, Ala.; E. L. 
Warner, Coden, Ala.; E. L. May, Tus- 
caloosa, Ala. ; Duncan May, Montgomery, 
Ala.; Kirk L. Robb, Birmingham, Ala. 
Yours very truly. 
Jack R. Connor, 
Birmingham, Ala. 
A. C. A. CONSTITUTION AMENDED 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
I 'HE American Canoe Association 
would appreciate it if you would 
publish the following amendment to the 
constitution, in your next issue: 
Article IV, Section 2 (Present Read- 
ing) — Associate Members: Ladies may 
be elected Associate Members by the Ex- 
ecutive Committee when proposed by a 
member of that Committee, provided 
they are of the immediate family of an 
active member and have attended at least 
two general camps. Practical canoeists 
only are eligible and they may be elected 
only after publication as provided for 
active members. The Associate Mem- 
bership may be revised at any time by 
the Executive Committee. 
Change This to Read: Ladies may be 
elected Associate Members by the Execu- 
tive Committee, when proposed by a 
member of that Committee, provided they 
are of the immediate family of an ac- 
tive member and have attended at least 
two camps — either general Association 
or Division camps. Practical canoeists 
only are eligible. The Associate Mem- 
bership may be revised at any time by 
the Executive Committee. 
Thanking you for your oo-operation 
on this, I am. 
Yours very truly, 
Oscar S. Tyson, 
Rear-Commodore, Atlantic 
Division. A. C. A. 
INFORMATION, PLEASE 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
I WOULD like to have the experience 
^ of the boys who fish, in regard to 
wormy bass (I always skin all bass same 
as I do catfish, I believe they keep better 
and the meat is much sweeter) and I 
find quite a few are infested with worms, 
which lay just under the skin. 
This I find is usually in bass caught 
in the streams, and I have found no 
one who can tell me any thing about it. 
There is getting to be more respect 
for the Law in this part of the state, 
and we do not have so many violators; 
in other words the fisherman are getting 
to be sportsmen and not fish hogs. 
I think it is the duty of every fisher- 
man to appoint himself as a Deputy 
Fish and Game Warden, and report all 
violators, be it his own brother. Let us 
have game and fish, and in order to do so 
we must look at it from a true sports- 
man’s view, not a question of meat, but 
recreation, true sport, good fellowship, 
and getting close to Nature. It will teach 
us to love our Creator more, and soften 
our hearts to all mankind. 
Wishing Forest and Stream success, 
H. E. Bindley, Terre Haute, Ind. 
THE FISHfIN GULF WATERS 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
I AM a reader of Forest and Stream 
and wish to say that I thoroughly en- 
joy reading it. 
I especially enjoyed reading in Oc- 
tober issue about the sheepshead. I am 
a great believer in outdoor life and spend 
most of mine fishing. I have caught lots 
of sheepshead in the waters around Mo- 
bile and here on Dog River within a 
stone’s throw of our club. There is a 
fine meal in store for the one who can 
catch this fish and I do not know of 
any other that is better. 
Let me suggest that an article written 
on the fish in the gulf waters would be 
very attractive to your readers. I am 
not a writer, by the way, however I do 
